


words by candlelight

by rorotea



Category: TsukiPro the Animation
Genre: Drabbles, Gen, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-04-21 21:14:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14293602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rorotea/pseuds/rorotea
Summary: A collection of drabbles, stray ideas & short pieces.ch. 2 - where kouki sees the lies of others (kouki/ryouta)ch. 1 - where mamoru wakes up earlier than the rest. (mamoru/growth)





	1. good morning

**Author's Note:**

> \- where mamoru wakes up earlier than the rest

**_ch. 1 - good morning_ **

A painful throbbing in his head woke him rudely. Perhaps it was a frantic dream — perhaps a muddled grey nightmare. He didn’t remember. Or, didn't want to.

Mamoru entered the hallway, almost a phantom in the cold, hesitant light from a hanging lamp. Tousled hair, droplets of sweat leaving frigid trails down his chest. Mamoru couldn’t see clearly past a few steps in front of his bare feet. Every breath escaped his lips in a fuzzy tangle, like part of it was lost or trapped in a web somewhere inside him.

Fingers clutching the fabric near his heart, he took a step forward towards the dark. Leaned against the counter, blinking several times while his body froze over and thawed by turn.   

Slowly, his eyes started to pierce the darkness, and  _see._

Ken-kun’s earphones lying sprawled on the couch. Warm fireworks bloomed right above them in Mamoru’s mind.

Ryou-kun’s magazine was set neatly on the tea table, several pages dog eared meticulously for reference. A pale pink bud opened beside it, filling Mamoru’s senses with the scent of fresh petals.   

Turning his head, his tired gaze fell upon the tray of cookies next to his elbow. He saw a whorl of green leaves, illuminated by threads of sunlight finally breaking through the curtains.

Hands steady, Mamoru wiped away the last traces of unrest from his cheeks.  _It's okay._

“Maybe I should try to get breakfast ready” He exclaimed quietly to himself. The idea fizzled away when he imagined Ryou's frown, Kou's deadpan stare, Ken's trepidation. "Or not... I'll just set the plates. Before they wake up." 

Before they said,

            _Good morning, Mamoru._


	2. i searched until i found you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ch. 2 - where kouki sees the lies of others (kouki, ryouta)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It became longer than a drabble... oops
> 
> This was a little rough part of a larger idea I don't know if I'll expand upon on or not in the future...
> 
> In any case, enjoy!

There were as many kinds of lies as there were people. He’d seen them all — of cracked malice and comfort, of blacks, greys, and whites.

“He’s the _easiest_ person to work with, isn’t he?” _A lie._

“I’m fine.” _A lie._

"You earned it."  _A truth, but covered in bitterness._

Kouki learned to just look away. Eventually.

Away from the darkening auras that fanned around the people he spoke with. Away from twisted smiles, half-hearted hopes, sun-kissed falsehoods.

A long time ago, someone would smile kindly at the child, and Kouki’s big heart would quiver, eyes shining like gemstones caressing the light for the first time. Unknowingly and without exception, his shoulders would freeze.

Their words, as well, were equally kind, but reached Kouki knotted with shadows he didn’t understand yet. 

And then — the flickering candle in those young eyes would sink into sadness. His heart would prickle with cinders that he eventually doused by swallowing a cold, stifled breath. 

He would reach out, hand outstretched in an unfamiliar place until his body went cold, then his arm would fall back to his side — having touched or held nothing.

Overtime, it became easier to ignore. Overtime, from walking, sometimes stumbling, but walking some more — he stopped looking.  

Why, then, did a person like Kouki enter a maze of lies, a world rife with painted smiles? A world where everyone wore a thousand masks and eventually forgot how to take them off?

_Because he couldn’t run away._

If he hid all his life, he wouldn’t meet anyone. He wouldn’t get anywhere.

From where Kouki chose to stand, he could see hundreds, thousands of faces.

_Surely… one of them…_

It wasn’t honesty he wished for.

Kouki wanted to — just once — reach out and have _someone_ take his hand. To let himself be carried somewhere without turning back. To look them in the eye and feel the warmth in his fingers all the way to his chest and say to himself, _this is okay. I’m okay._  

— 

A feather-light touch to his shoulder made Kouki jump and take in a sharp breath. 

“Kou, are you okay?” Ryouta’s eyebrows knotted together. “You look pale. We have to leave soon, but do you want to sit d—” 

Something in Kouki’s face caused the words to scatter and trail off.

The strange, intense curiosity with which his irises burned, draped in silent desperation, a flickering that wanted so badly to ripple into flames. Ryouta didn’t know why his gaze arched downwards to Kouki’s hands, hanging limply at his sides. 

He threaded an arm carefully around Kouki, mindful to keep their gazes intertwined. Because if he didn’t, that gleam, a swab of fresh ink on paper, would dry away. 

Kouki was still as night. Ryouta touched him, fingers trailing as stars do from the elbow down to his wrist.

Ryouta’s voice was a swaying leaf, “They’re waiting for us. Are you ready to go, Kou?”

The corners of his mouth tickled when Kouki dazedly murmured, as if he’d woken up from a long, long dream, “Y-yeah, sorry… I just got lost in thought. For a second.”

Ryouta pulled him by the wrist, pulled until Kouki was a few steps ahead of him. Till he saw the cherished back that at times trembled, at times stood steadfast through storms that could topple towers.

Kouki walked, Ryouta followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


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